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“Frenchie has finally had an opportunity to take the stand to defend herself. It has taken the government nearly half a decade to prepare a case against Frenchie and during this long period, this young woman has been left to languish in detention. That itself raises serious questions about the fairness of the process."
“We’re ready to testify before the QuadComm as victims of extrajudicial killings,” Rosenda Lemita said, stressing that they want Duterte and those responsible to face investigation. For these families, the government’s “nanlaban” excuse is not just for the drug war but also for silencing activists.
“We were not hiding anything,” Cumpio said during the hearing. “We would have allowed them in because we have nothing illegal to hide,” she said, referring to the Feb. 7, 2020 raids.
Karapatan said that the quadcomm hearings revealed the involvement of Duterte’s people in perpetrating human rights violations against activists and human rights defenders.
"If Cumpio and Domequil who have voices to speak for being a journalist and a church worker respectfully are already being persecuted by weaponized laws, how can an ordinary Filipino seek justice for himself?"
Lolita Abril urged the CHR to conduct an independent investigation into the killing of her husband Ronel Abril and another coconut farmer Roger Clores last September 26. The two were allegedly killed by elements of the 2nd Infantry Battalion (2nd IB) in an “armed encounter.”
“This kind of human rights violation should be stopped. This is a crime against humanity, it should never happen to anyone, regardless of our principles,” Burgos said.
Dangla said that while the issuance may be a glimpse of victory, he continues to assert that the fight does not stop by getting the legal remedies. "Although I am pleased with the order I believe that many of those who filed for a writ of amparo have either had their cases dismissed or have even been charged with trumped-up charges like Jhed and Jonila.”
By leveraging citizen data, communities can play an active role in addressing challenges and driving social change, and most importantly, improve the inclusiveness and timeliness of the official statistics. However, the full potential of citizen data faces many challenges in integrating it into policymaking.
Former Bayan Muna Representative Neri Colmenares, who has represented the families of drug war victims and a counsel of complainants before the International Criminal Court (ICC), said that the testimony of Duterte exposes the narrative of “nanlaban” as false, rendering the police’s claim of self-defense obsolete.
“The victims, families, have to rely on their own resources. They did not receive any sort of help from the government, especially from the police,” said Ephraim Cortez, president of National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL).
The group said that the government’s counter-insurgency operations are falsely portrayed as successes through the detention of activists and community leaders.
The group said that Duterte is not only responsible for the thousands of drug-related killings but also for the summary execution of 422 political activists and the frustrated extrajudicial killing of 544 others.
The dispute over Hacienda Almeda dates back to the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program in 1988. The 1,546-hectare property, spanning the municipalities of Mamburao and Abra de Ilog, was initially placed under agrarian reform coverage due to its agricultural use.
“The case faced by the Talaingod 13 is a clear example of how the law is being used to suppress the rights of Indigenous Peoples who only wish to live peacefully on their land. We have also witnessed how solidarity with others has been criminalized."
“In fact, other criminal cases avr been previously filed against Alaiza and her family before and for being utterly false, none of which have resulted in any indictment,” it said.
Human rights lawyer Antonio La Viña said that the missing activists were well-known in the neighborhood. “They knew it was him. The identification is positive that it was Felix.”
Apart from the abduction of Salaveria, CCTV footage obtained by Karapatan also showed another Toyota van with plate number NDR5274 on August 23 at 10:00 p.m. entering Brgy. San Lorenzo, Tabaco City where Jazmines was abducted.
Amnesty International Philippines (AIPh) launched their October 14 report titled “I Turned My Fear Into Courage,” summing up how the authorities have used social media, Facebook in significant cases, to stifle dissent through red-tagging. They dubbed Facebook as a “cheap and effective” way for the government to harass and intimidate critics.
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